Social development

Barack Obama: Erikson's Model of Development

According to Erik Erikson's theory of developmental stages, every human being goes through a series of conflicted stages which must be resolved before he or she can successfully progress to the next stage. Barack Obama's movement through Erickson's life stages can be seen most acutely in his adolescence and young adulthood, based upon what he has revealed about his development in his autobiography Dreams From My Father. However, it may also be presumed that during the infancy stage he went through the familiar crisis of 'trust vs. mistrust.' During this phase, Obama's father left his mother and young son, which could have created a sense of insecurity, despite his mother's evident love for her child. However, Obama's mother remarried an Indonesian man, who was by all accounts a loving stepfather (Barak Obama, 2012, Biography).

From ages 2-4, Erikson says the central crisis...
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